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GARY LINEKER and Nick Hancock have issued grovelling apologies to Luke Chadwick for their cruel jokes over his looks as a youngster at Manchester United.

Chadwick, 39, admitted gags about his appearance on BBC show They Think It's All Over killed his confidence over the weekend.

 Hancock, pictured here as Father Christmas, and Lineker have apologised to Chadwick for their cruel jokes on BBC show They Think It's All Over
Hancock, pictured here as Father Christmas, and Lineker have apologised to Chadwick for their cruel jokes on BBC show They Think It's All Over

And now the show's former presenter Hancock and Lineker - a team captain on the programme, which ran between 1996 and 2006 - have apologised for their behaviour.
At the weekend Chadwick confessed: "When they started bringing [my appearance] up, they were bringing me to the attention of millions of people.

"I remember the first time and someone texting me to say, 'Nice appearance on They Think It's All Over'.

"I was so shocked because I was quite naive back then, even if I was playing occasionally for Manchester United.

"I watched it the next week and I could see people laughing at these jokes about me. It was obviously funny to other people but, to me, it didn't feel like that."

Chadwick continued: "I would dread every Friday. I wasn't a hugely confident guy anyway and this just made it worse.

"I used to half-watch it, hoping and praying that they would stop. But they never did. It just carried on and on.

"I always asked myself whether I should have tried to speak to them [the BBC] about it."

Following the heartbreaking revelation, Lineker responded on Twitter, saying: "I was part of that show, therefore, I too would like to apologise to @luke_FFF for any hurt caused"

And former host Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “Listening to Luke is incredibly humbling.

"He's shown so much more generosity and understanding and good judgement than we did at the time.

“I’m appalled for him and at myself.

"When I hear him speaking, I'm full of admiration for the present Luke Chadwick and full of sympathy for the young Luke Chadwick.

 The BBC show They Think It's All Over, featuring Nick Hancock and Gary Lineker, often poked fun at Chadwick
The BBC show They Think It's All Over, featuring Nick Hancock and Gary Lineker, often poked fun at ChadwickCredit: Handout

“The terrible thing about comedians and comedy shows is that if you're getting laughs, you think you're doing a good job.

“Of course the worst thing for Luke was that it became a bit of a running joke. To us it was a photograph.

"That's not good obviously, we should have been thinking about the person, but that's what can happen.”

Comedian Lee Hurst playing the 'Name Game' on panel show They Think It's All Over
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